Phantom Forces Wiki:Manual of Style
The Phantom Forces Wiki Standardization Project is a collaborative effort to codify and standardize the writing and revising of articles on the Phantom Forces Wiki. The Founder and President of this project is Jonasguy. The project was begun on August 3rd, 2017. Past efforts by Aurified and others to formalize articles are well appreciated. All standardizations below were codified by Jonasguy, unless otherwise noted. Standard Language The Standard Language used for the Phantom Forces Wiki Standardization Project is American English. Common Mistakes There are a number of mistakes in grammar and language on this wiki that you are likely to run into when standardizing. Make sure to fix these promptly. * The incorrect use of the word 'its'. 'It's' means 'it is', and does not function as a possessive. 'Its' is the correct possessive. Specific Clarifications Use of Pronouns * Pronoun usage should be kept limited. For example, limit the amount of times you referred to a weapon as 'it'. Instead, it is better to refer to the weapon by name, though not to the point of extremity. * Never ''use a pronoun in an introductory sentence. '''Abbreviations' * Try to limit your use of abbreviations. However, popularly known and accepted abbreviations, such as Time to Kill (TTK) and Rate of Fire are acceptable. Weaponry * Magazine capacities are to be referred to with the following format: 'The (weapon) has a (Amount of rounds in magazine)'-round magazine. For example, the M16A3 has a 30-round magazine. All round capacities are to be referred to with a dash between the number of rounds and the word 'rounds', with rounds not being capitalized. This standardization was originally imposed by ScarL4Life. * 'Underbarrel' is one word. 'Under-barrel' is nonstandard and not accepted. Standard Article Formats Weaponry Articles Template: Weapon All Weaponry Articles use the Template: Weapon infobox. Be sure that this information is up to date by confirming it in-game if you think some of the information is incorrect. Introductory Sentence Weaponry articles begin with this sentence format: 'The (Weapon Name) '''is a (Country of Origin) (Type of Weapon with link to Weapon category page). The (Weapon Name) is unlocked at Rank (rank) or can be purchased with credits (with link to credits page) (CR). Here is an example of a correct introductory sentence: 'The '''M16A4 is an American Assault Rifle. The M16A4 is unlocked at Rank 22 or can be purchased with credits (CR).' If the weapon is a default weapon, then the second sentence should read 'The (Weapon Name) is unlocked by default.' What Not to Do * Do not ''refer to a weapon with a pronoun in an introductory sentence. This means the word 'it' or 'its' should not appear in the introductory sentence. * Do ''not ''describe the weapon in any way except with reference to its country of origin and what type of weapon it is. Do not call the weapon "The best gun in the game", or "The most versatile and awesome weapon" etc., which are not objective. If a weapon has a RoF of 900, it would be acceptable to say "It has a fast RoF", or something else that is relatively objective. * As of now, do not refer to how many credits a weapon costs to unlock. ** The author is unsure whether this scales based off how close you are to unlocking the weapon (as with Attachments) so it is best not to refer to it at all, as of right now. This can be changed later. '''In-Game Section' The In-Game section is split into three subsections. This format was first proposed by ScarL4life and credits goes to him. The first section is General Information. This section contains information about the weapon and a general overview of its use. The second section is Usage & Tactics. This section goes into more detail about how to use the weapon effectively. The final section is Conclusion. This section concludes the In-Game section with a summary of the usage of the weapon. Each sub-section should be in bold, italicized, and have the Sub-Heading One font. Pros and Cons The Pros and Cons sections contains a number of Pros and Cons for each weapon. The Pros and Cons are organized by bullet points. Each bullet point should be kept short, and should only contain a single sentence. If you require more than one sentence, split it into two bullet points. This sentence should not end with a period. Index Credit goes to Dinocamo for originally writing up many of these terms. However, some things have been changed under this project and these definitions are to be used in the future. Exact Definitions of Terms Range * Point Blank Range is defined as being within 20 studs. * Short Range is defined as being within 20-100 studs. ** Close Range differs from Short Range in that Close Range implies the closeness of surroundings. Short Range only implies the closeness of encounters. Therefore, a map like Warehouse is Close Range but Short Range encounters still take place on other maps. *** Basically, Close Range implies Short Range but Short Range does not imply Close Range. * Medium Range is defined as being within 100-250 studs. ** Mid-Range and Medium Range can be used interchangeably, and mean the same thing. * Long Range is defined as being within 250-400 studs. * Extreme Range is defined as being above 400 studs. Weaponry * Assault Rifles are defined as weapons firing intermediate-caliber cartridges from a detachable box magazine. * Personal Defense Weapons are defined as physically small weapons which fire cartridges which are smaller than intermediate-caliber cartridges. * Light Machine Guns are defined as physically large weapons which fire from extended magazines. * Sniper Rifles are defined as bolt-action weapons firing rifle-caliber ammunition. * Carbines are defined as short-length weapons firing intermediate cartridges from a detachable box magazine. * Battle Rifles are defined as rifle-caliber weapons which are select-fire and feed from a detachable box magazine. ** The Henry 45-70 is officially classified as a Battle Rifle in-game, despite violating this definition. * Shotguns are defined as weapons which fire groups of pellets with every shot. * Pistols are defined as semi-automatic weapons feeding from a detachable, box magazine. * Machine Pistols are defined as fully-automatic weapons feeding from a detachable, box magazine. * Revolvers are defined as handguns feeding from a revolving cylinder. * Other Secondary Weapons are all other weapons in the secondary weapon category that do not fit into the above categories. Characteristics * Handling refers to the combined aspects of the weapon's walk speed, equip speed and aim speed. This term refers to how the weapon feels when it is being used by a player. ** Therefore, a lightweight, fast weapon like the MP5K could be said to have better handling than a large, heavy weapon like the Colt LMG. Commonly Accepted Abbreviations * PDW: Personal Defense Weapon - A member of the Personal Defense Weapon class. ** Despite the fact that most Personal Defense Weapons should be classified as Submachine Guns, ''never ''refer to them as such, or use the abbreviation SMG when referring to PDWs. * LMG: Light Machine Gun - A member of the Light Machine Gun class. * TTK: Time to Kill - how long it takes, in seconds, to kill an enemy with the maximum damage modifier possible for that weapon, which usually entails a shot to the head. Time to Kill is measured without reference to any attachments. ** Therefore, guns which have a one-hit-kill on headshot, such as the MP412 REX, have a Time to Kill of zero seconds. * STK: Shots to Kill - how many shots it takes to kill an enemy at a given range. For comparison purposes, Shots to Kill are all assumed to be within the Maximum Damage Range of the weapon, with the standard torso modifier applied. Furthermore, Shots to Kill are measured without reference to any attachments. Another acceptable variation is BTK ( Bullets to Kill ). ** Therefore, the AK-12 has a STK/BTK of four, because it does 33 damage per shot within its maximum damage range. ** Hits to Kill and all other derivations are nonstandard and not accepted. * CQC: Close Quarters Combat - Battles that take place at close range. ** CQB: Close Quarter Battles - Another term for CQC. * RoF: Rate of Fire - How fast a weapon fires. * RPM: Rounds Per Minute - A measurement used to display how fast a weapon fires. For example, the AK-12 fires at 700 RPM. Category:Wiki Standardization Project Category:Projects Category:Standardization